Southern Miss practice notes: Mixed bag for Monken

Following Southern Miss’ fourth practice of fall camp, first-year head coach Todd Monken liked some of what he saw, but tempered that optimism by pointing out a few shortcomings.

Coming off a practice session on Sunday that left Monken unhappy, he said the Golden Eagles were improved Monday.

“I thought we were better today,” he said following the nearly two-and-a-half hour practice at Joe Park Practice Field. “We gave them a little bit of a break (five minutes) in the middle of practice, and that helped a lot.”

On the flip side, he acknowledged there are certain areas that are in need of significant improvement — namely on the offensive line and at the quarterback position.

Monken also singled out the wide receivers as a position group that regressed slightly in Monday’s session.

“(They) took a little step back,” he said. “They were really good (on Sunday), but that happens.”

The arms race at the quarterback postition remains unsettled. Monken has already said he intends to pick a starter within the next couple of weeks, in order to give that player a full slate of reps leading up to the team’s first game on Aug. 31 against Texas State.

After Monday, though, Monken had little to offer in the way of a direction he may be leaning.

When asked if any of the quarterbacks stood out in Monday’s practice, he said, “No. No there was not.”

But by the looks of things from the sidelines, Alan Bridgford and Cole Weeks saw the majority of snaps during Monday’s practice, and both looked pretty sharp.

I caught up with Bridgford, a Cal transfer, after practice, and I’ll have more from both he and Monken in Tuesday’s Hattiesburg American.